


The Sisters Grimm

by Lithos_Maitreya



Category: RWBY
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F, F/M, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-19 07:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5959174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithos_Maitreya/pseuds/Lithos_Maitreya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since Ruby Rose was born, there have been two of her. Fifteen-year-old Ruby lives with her family in Vale as a student at Signal Academy. Her twin, Rose, has no family left and spends her days trying desperately to protect her world from the endless tides of Grimm. When Ruby's Remnant starts to resemble her sister's, what sacrifices will they have to make to defend each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ruby and Rose

**Author's Note:**

> So I just started this AO3 thing, But I've been doing fanfiction for a while at that other site with all the plebians. Plan is for me to post only the stuff I'm actually proud of over here. At this point that's basically this and one other fic for Star Wars I'm working on.
> 
> Opening remark: The pairing on the tin is Bumblebee, but be advised that White Rose and Pollination may also be things that happen. (Without the incest! Fully platonic R/Y, thank you. Think "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies." And I'll see if I can link that later. Because you guys have weird formatting on this website.
> 
> That should do it. More extensive comments at the end, and there won't be as much inn any subsequent chapters.

 

_“Those who play with the devil’s toys will be brought by degrees to wield his sword.”_

—R. Buckminster Fuller

_“In each of us there are two natures._  
If this primitive duality of man—Good and Evil—can be housed in separate identities,  
Life will be relieved of all that is unbearable.  
It is the curse of mankind that these polar twins must be constantly struggling.”  
—Dr. Henry Jekyll, _Jekyll & Hyde_

* * *

 

Since as far back as Ruby Rose could remember, there were two of her.

This wouldn’t have been unusual if she had been born a twin. She hadn’t.

“I’ll see you later, Ruby!” her sister—the one people acknowledged, anyway—called as she left for school. Yang Xiao long had a martial arts class before the school day proper, and so left just before seven each morning, an hour before Ruby did.

“Bye, Yang!” Ruby called after her as she heard the front door close. She turned back to the slumbering form in the bed beside her.

“Sis?” she murmured gently. “It’s time to wake up.”

Ruby Rose mumbled in her sleep. “Don’ wanna.”

Ruby Rose smiled gently. “Come on. You don’t want to miss roll call, do you?”

The still half-asleep double shot up into a sitting position. “Oh, Dust,” she moaned. “I have to get ready.”

Ruby giggled at her double’s misfortune. “Glad I’m not in your shoes,” she said lightly.

Ruby Rose—both of her—was fifteen years old. One of them was a student at Signal Academy: a broad training location that prepared students for all sorts of fields, noted in particular for its pre-Hunt program for aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses.

The other was less fortunate.

“You were really tired when you got home last night, Rose,” Ruby—the student at Signal—said conversationally as she pulled open their closet and laid out an outfit for each of them. For herself she took her customary red-and-black ruffled dress and leggings, with the blood-red cloak which was her signature. For her sister, she brought out the Dust-weave underarmor and combat shielding that was her uniform, again in their colors. “I was worried.”

Rose sighed. “Sorry, Ruby,” she said. “Yesterday was… bad.”

They had taken different names to avoid confusion. Ruby was the student at Signal—the girl who could still be a little girl. Rose was less fortunate.

Ruby looked at her sister sympathetically. “White Fang?” she asked.

Rose shook head grimly. “Grimm,” she said tonelessly, pulling off her pajamas and slipping into fresh underclothes. “Led by a Deathstalker. Breached the East barricades before we knew what was happening.” She laughed mirthlessly. “The Fang actually _helped_ us with this one, and we still lost a whole block of the city before we were able to rig up new barriers. At least three Huntsmen are dead, and I know of a couple more who were injured badly.”

Ruby paused in pulling on her leggings to embrace her sister. “Did you know any of them?” she asked quietly.

Rose shook her head. “Yeah,” she said softly. “We weren’t close—one, Noire, was the sister of a friend. I need to see if she’s okay today.” She snorted, standing sharply and pacing the length of the room, not looking at Ruby. “Assuming we don’t have another incursion that takes twelve hours out of my life.”

Ruby looked over at her sister sadly. “I wish things were different,” she said helplessly.

Rose looked over at her with a sad smile. “They are for you,” she said gently. “Keep it that way.” She cracked her neck and finished pulling on her armor. Once it was on, she pulled her weapon off of its rack on the wall.

Rose’s weapon was a Repeating Dual Assault Scythe. It extended from a compacted box-like form into a seven-foot instrument of death, with a crescent-shaped blade on either end, pointing in opposite directions. Integrated into the haft of the weapon were two separate .45 fully-automatic repeating rifles, one pointing past each blade.

“I need to get in early today,” she said, “which means I’ll have to leave soon and grab breakfast on the way. You’ll be all right without me, right?”

Ruby nodded with a smile at her sister, then cocked her head. “Why do they need you early?”

Rose sighed. “Apparently,” she grumbled, “my name’s been shortlisted for an op in Old Mantle. For _some reason_ the bigwigs have got it in their heads that we need to get something out of the old ruin instead of, I don’t know, trying to _take back_ some of the ground we’re losing every day!” Rose was breathing heavily now, and her silver eyes were glimmering with rage.

Ruby finished lacing up her boots and turned to face her sister, making placating motions with her hands. “I hope they have a good reason,” she said. “Otherwise it just doesn’t make sense.”

“Makes as much sense as anything else,” Rose grunted, lightly kicking their dresser. “Sometimes I feel like the world just hates people named Ruby Rose.” She smiled wryly at her sister. “Then I remember that you exist.”

Ruby ducked her head. “I wish you didn’t have to go out every day and risk your life like that.” she said longingly. “I wish we could just switch places…”

“I don’t,” Rose said, taking her hand. “You’ve got a wonderful life, and people who care about you, and I wouldn’t take that away from you for the world.” She smiled wryly. “’Sides, I don’t think I could really be Dad’s good little girl anymore.”

Ruby swallowed and held back tears. Rose’s mother had died before she could remember, just like Ruby’s, but Ruby still had her father and sister. Rose’s had been killed at the outbreak of the war five years ago.

They both wondered, sometimes, how it would have affected Rose if Ruby hadn’t been there. It wasn’t a pleasant thought.

Rose was not fooled by Ruby’s false cheer and took her sister into her arms gently. “Hey,” she said quietly. “It’s all right. They’re still with you, aren’t they? They’re not gone, even if I can’t see them anymore.” She kissed her sister on the cheek. “I’ve got to go, Ruby.”

Ruby kissed her sister back. “Bye, Rose. Be safe.”

Rose smiled at the doorway out of their bedroom. “I will,” she promised. “See you tonight.” And she was gone, out the door and out of Ruby’s life for the rest of the day.

It was an interesting paradox that surrounded “their room.” Ruby lived in the Xiao Long flat in the western suburbs of Vale, and had a bedroom to herself just as she had all her life. Rose, on the other hand, had not lived in the Xiao Long flat in five years, since it had been destroyed in one of the first major Grimm incursions of the war. Rose lived instead in a small apartment near the city center, in the residential area which had, for her, been converted into makeshift barracks. As a ranking officer, she was given her own quarters.

Somehow, those two rooms on opposite sides of Vale were the same room, and the door opened to different places for each of them.

That oddity, however, was nothing compared to the strangeness of the rest of the world. Every so often, Ruby would pass Rose on the street. Rose would be walking with her fellow officers of the UGCF; sometimes friends, sometimes rivals, always comrades. Ruby would be walking with her friends from Signal, or with her family.

Always, one thing was constant. The only people from the two parties who could see each other were Ruby and Rose. It was as though everyone else existed in two entirely separate Remnants, and Ruby and Rose could only catch a glimpse at the other side through a single, two-way, Ruby Rose-shaped hole.

Ruby sighed and opened the door her sister had just left through. It opened to a staircase down to the ground floor of her father’s flat.

She reached over, pulled Crescent Rose from its position where it hung on her wall, strapped the weapon onto her back and descended. It was time to face another day alone.

* * *

 

“This time you’re the one home late,” Rose told Ruby accusingly as she slipped quietly into the room.

It was a couple of months later. School had let out for Ruby and Yang—the latter having graduated from Signal with accolades in combat. She had been accepted to Beacon Academy and would be attending in just a few more days.

Ruby grinned at her. “Oh my gosh, Rose,” she gushed in a rapid whisper, careful not to wake Yang in the next room. “You will not _believe_ what happened today!”

Rose cocked her head and raised a brow. “Oh?” she asked, amused. “Try me.”

“I’m going to Beacon!” Ruby could barely contain the squeal to a reasonable volume. “Headmaster Ozpin found me after I fought off those robbers and invited me to attend early!”

Rose’s face blanked and she blinked once, slowly. “Ruby,” she said calmly. “Beginning, please. You got into a fight?”

Ruby looked down sheepishly. “Er, yeah,” she said. “There were these guys in black suits with red glasses and some kind of mass-produced red swords, stealing Dust from a store I was in. They were led by a guy with red hair in a white coat with a cigar.”

“Roman,” Rose muttered, looking baffled. “What the _hell_ are you doing on that side, you clown?”

“Roman?” Ruby asked.

Rose shook her head. “He’s a field tactician for the UGCF,” she said. “I worked with him while I tenured under Captain Fall. He’s not a great guy, but he’s also not ballsy enough to openly steal Dust like that—not unless he’s got a lot of support. I wonder who he’s working with?”

Ruby shrugged. “There’ve been a lot of dust thefts lately,” she said. “Maybe his group’s behind them all?”

Rose nodded, looking almost sad. “Maybe,” she sighed. “It’s almost depressing, how people who I fight beside on this end are your enemies over there, just because the Grimm are scarier on this side.”

Ruby gave her a wry smile. “I’ll try not to hurt him if I get into a fight,” she suggested.

Rose snorted. “I honestly don’t care about what happens to Roman Torchwick,” she said firmly. “He’s a bastard, even on this end; he just happens to be Captain Fall’s bastard. But…” She looked up at Ruby from her seat on the bed, and her eyes were slightly bright. “If you run into a girl in the White Fang named Blake Belladonna,” she said quietly, “please try not to hurt her. She’s…” Rose looked away. “She can be a great friend,” she said. “Loyal to the death.”

Ruby hugged her sister. “I remember you told me about her,” she said quietly. Blake Belladonna had been a friend to her sister a couple of years back, who had been killed defending a civilian evacuation of Vacuo from the White Fang. “I thought the Fang killed her?”

“She was a member, once,” Rose said softly. “I didn’t know that until just a bit before… well. She turned to our side when the Fang refused to fall into line with the UGCF.”

Ruby nodded slowly. “I’ll try to keep her safe if I ever meet her,” she promised.

Rose’s fists clenched at she shook her head. “No,” she said eventually. “It was a stupid thought. If she becomes your enemy, just make sure you survive.” The identical silver eyes met. “Promise?”

Ruby smiled. “Promise,” she said.

“All right,” Rose sighed heavily, blinking and breaking eye contact. “So, Torchwick’s guys were stealing Dust? And you were just… there?”

Ruby nodded. “One of them tried to mug me,” she confessed. “It was really funny, actually.”

Rose snorted. “ _Civvies,_ ” she said derisively. “They never learn. What happened then?”

“Well, Torchwick was actually trained,” Ruby continued, sitting down beside her sister, “so he actually gave me some trouble. I chased him onto a roof, but he had a getaway dropship.” She ducked her head. “Almost got me with a Red Dust crystal as a grenade,” she muttered. “Didn’t realize what he was planning until it was almost too late to dodge. But then guess who showed up?”

Rose’s brows rose. “Who?”

“ _Glynda Goodwitch!_ ” Ruby hissed excitedly. “She brought up a barrier to protect us from the blast and then started hitting the dropship with magic missiles! They got away anyway, though. Their pilot came out; she was a real powerhouse with Red Dust. I think she had a Dust-weave dress, too.”

Rose frowned. “You didn’t see who it was?” she asked.

Ruby shook her head. “Nope. She hung back in the troop pod, and kept the shadows on her face. I think she wanted to stay hidden.”

Rose grunted agreement. “So would I, if I were in charge of organized Dust robbery in a world where not every military entity in existence was focused on containing the Grimm,” she said.

Ruby nodded. “Anyway, Professor Goodwitch brought me to the Police Station and sat me down in an interrogation room and started chewing me out for getting involved, and then _Professor Ozpin_ showed up, and he had cookies, and he gave me the cookies, and he invited me to Beacon!”

Rose was looking at her oddly. “So let me get this straight,” she said slowly. “Goodwitch starts chewing you out for doing your _job_ as a Huntress-in-training…”

“Well, she said I needed to go find a professional Huntsman, or the police,” Ruby said, “because I might not have been able to handle them.”

“But you knew you could,” Rose said flatly.

“Well, yeah.”

“So my point stands,” Rose said, looking displeased, but not at her sister. “And after that, Ozpin comes in with _cookies_ and an offer?”

“Yep,” said Ruby cheerily.

Rose looked at her warily. “You do know he was manipulating you, right?” she asked quietly.

Ruby nodded. “Oh, totally,” she agreed. “It’s honestly kind of flattering. He clearly really wants me at Beacon. I’ll watch for more of that from him, but since I wanted to go anyway… I didn’t see the harm.”

Rose sighed, still watching her, now looking sad again. “And that’s another thing,” she said quietly. “Why do you want to go to Beacon early?”

Ruby smiled at her. “I know, I know. We talked about me having a childhood and all that. Honestly, though… We’re fifteen now. My childhood’s basically over anyway. And Yang’s going to Beacon this year. If I go now, we’ll be in the same classes… and you and I also talked about appreciating her.” She shrugged, grinning wryly at her double. “I had to choose, and I figured going to Beacon now was the right call.”

Rose nodded wearily. “You’re probably right,” she murmured, swinging her legs onto the bed—carefully, so as not to hit her sister. “Hell, who am I to say? It’s your life. I hope it goes well.” She looked sidelong at her sister. “You know you’ll have roommates there.”

Ruby froze. “I didn’t think about it,” she admitted.

Rose had enlisted in the UGCF before the draft, when the barracks were still empty enough to give her a room of her own. By the time that had changed, she was already an officer. Neither of them had even lived in a room that wasn’t entirely their own. The closest equivalent was when Rose was away on missions of a week or more, and in these cases she simply didn’t return to the room until she got back.

It was always a time of quiet terror for Ruby, who knew that if her sister died, she would never hear from her again, and would have no one to turn to. They had long since agreed that if such a thing happened, Ruby would tell Yang the whole story so that she would have _someone_ to support her. Until it was necessary, however, it was simpler just to keep the secret.

“We don’t know what’ll happen,” Rose said comfortingly. “Maybe it’ll be fine, and I’ll still see you every night, even if we won’t be able to talk much in front of your teammates.”

Ruby nodded unhappily. “Yeah,” she agreed, trying to keep her fear out of her voice. “Maybe.”

“Come on,” Rose said gently. “Get changed and come to bed. You’ve got a lot to get ready before Beacon.”

* * *

 

The next few days went by all too quickly. Yang was beyond excited to learn that her sister would be her classmate, and Taiyang was positively glowing with pride the whole while.

Even Rose was proud of her, and told her so every night.

“It’s all right, Ruby,” she said quietly, the next night after Ruby’s meeting with Ozpin. “It’s not goodbye; you’ll be back in the winter.”

“It’s longer than any mission you’ve ever been on,” Ruby muttered, clutching her arms around herself. “We’ve _never_ been apart for this long before.”

“And we’ll survive,” Rose said confidently, taking her sister into her arms. “And you’ll come out of it one of the strongest Huntresses your Remnant has ever seen.”

“I’d rather have you,” Ruby whispered.

“And I, you,” Rose smiled, kissing her on the forehead. “But you know as well as I do that Remnant—both Remnants—need us more than we do. Someone has to fight the Grimm, and I’m proud to say my sister is one of those happy few.”

The only member of the strange, binary family who was less than pleased was Ruby herself.

But now it was the morning. Today she left home for longer than she’d ever been away before.

“Ruby,” Rose whispered in her ear. “It’s time to get up. You don’t want to miss the airship.”

At the same time, Yang knocked on the door. “Ruby!” she sang. “C’mon, little sis! We’re going to Beacon!”

Ruby’s silver eyes opened slowly, reluctantly, and sought her sister’s mirrored ones. “Rose,” she whispered.

Rose smiled. “I’ll leave a note every time I go on a mission,” she promised, “with the day I left and the day I expect to be back by. That way, if I’m gone when you get back… you won’t wonder.”

Ruby swallowed. “I can’t lose you,” she whispered.

Rose smiled down at her. “You won’t,” she said, brimming with certainty. “No Grimm’s going to keep me from home.”

Ruby hugged her, ignoring Yang’s calls for her to wake up. “I’ll miss you,” she said in a choked sob.

“I’ll miss you too,” Rose said, embracing her back. “But remember, every day, that I’m back here, waiting for you… and it’ll make it easier.”

They lay there for a moment, silent, before Ruby sighed and let go, drying her eyes on her pajama sleeves. “I need to get the door,” she murmured, “Or Yang’ll break it down again.”

Rose smiled and helped her up, then stood back as Ruby faced the world.

Ruby pulled open the door a crack. “Yang?” she asked.

There was an actual pause as Yang met her sister’s eyes, words dying on the blonde’s lips as she studied the smaller girl. “Are you okay?” she asked, usual exuberance gone. “Were you crying?”

Ruby smiled at her. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just… already homesick.”

Yang stared at her for a moment, face concerned. “Are you… sure you want to go through with this?” she asked hesitantly. “I… guess I get it if you don’t want to skip ahead.”

For one moment, crystallized, Ruby wondered. She really could back out of it now. She could say that she wanted to stay with her friends at Signal for a little longer, that, despite her skill in combat, she wasn’t ready for higher education, and for living in the dorms on her own.

She could turn around now, and close the door, and Rose would still be there, and they would have more time.

And then she blinked and smiled.

“I’m sure,” she said, and she didn’t even have to pretend to be certain. “I’m ready.”

Yang grinned at her. “Aw, yeah! _That’s_ the Ruby I know! You’ll show Beacon who’s boss!”

Ruby chuckled slightly. “Not in my PJ’s I won’t,” she said. “Shoo, go away! I’ll be down in five minutes.”

As Yang left she closed the door and turned back to where Rose was smiling at her from the corner. There was an odd look on her face, but Ruby knew her sister well enough to recognize even the uncommon feeling.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this proud of anything before,” she said softly, and her silver eyes were shining. “You’ll go far, Ruby.”

“As long as I have you behind me,” Ruby said, crossing the room to pull her sister into her arms one last time.

* * *

 

The day seemed to fly by until suddenly they were there, at Beacon Academy. The airship ride had been largely uneventful but for the appearance of a newscast confirming what Ruby had suggested to Rose—that Roman Torchwick was involved in more than one Dust theft.

As Ruby followed her elder sister off of the ship, the world seemed to open in blinding sunlight. They were level with lower-flying clouds, and even the highest ones didn’t seem too far out of her reach up here. Before here was the Beacon citadel, its spires forming a striking silhouette against the endless sea of blue.

“Beacon Academy!” Yang laughed, stretching luxuriously. “Say hello to our home for the next four years, Ruby!”

Ruby looked up at the great central tower and the luminescent Dust-carillon atop it, and found herself smiling sadly.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Home…”

Yang looked sidelong at her. “You all right?” she asked.

Ruby smiled at her. “Fine,” she said. “I’m fine.” She looked around. “Sure seems busy,” she said quietly.

Yang nodded, surveying the crowd. “Oh, hey!” she called, waving at someone in the distance. “There’s a few friends of mine!”

Ruby smiled. “Oh, from Signal?”

“Yeah!” said Yang, continuing to wave. “They were in the grade above me—graduated last year. Anyway,” she said, turning to Ruby, “I guess we could head in now and explore, but do you want to wander around outside for a bit; meet people?”

Ruby shrugged. “Sure, I guess. You sure you don’t want to go talk to them?”

Yang grinned at her, spreading her arms ambivalently. “They’ll be here for the next four years,” she said confidently. “And I’ve had them in class before. You, I have _not_ had in my class before, and I don’t get to spend time with my little sister often enough. C’mon! Is there anyone you want to meet around here? See any cool weapons?”

Ruby smiled and looked around. One girl—a dark-haired beauty with a bow atop her long locks—caught her eye with a customized blade in a sharpened sheath, clearly including a component firearm. “She’s got a nice weapon,” she said.

“Her weapon isn’t the only nice thing on her,” Yang agreed, whistling approvingly. “You’ve got good taste, sis.”

“Your words, not mine,” Ruby giggled, approaching the girl. “Hi!” she introduced cheerfully. “I’m Ruby. This is my sister, Yang. What’s your name?”

The girl blinked at her for a moment before responding quietly in a low, velvety voice, “…Blake.”

Ruby blinked.

“Blake, huh?” Yang said, stretching her arms behind her head. “Where are you from?”

“…Around,” the girl said evasively.

_Sounds about right,_ agreed Ruby, studying the girl with new eyes. _If this really is Blake Belladonna. White Fang members don’t have stable homes. I wonder if she’s still working for them?_

“Ooh, mysterious!” Yang said, one brow raised flirtatiously. “I like that.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind her,” she told Blake firmly. “She was dropped on her head as a baby.”

“Hey!” Yang accused. “I’m the _older_ sister—I’m supposed to say that about _you_!”

Blake snorted. “I’m definitely seeing the maturity,” she said caustically.

Ruby thought Yang probably didn’t miss the sarcasm, but she just swelled with pride. “You know it!” the blonde agreed.

“Did you build that weapon?” Ruby interjected, trying to change the subject before Yang finished burning the bridge.

Blake nodded at her slowly. “Yeah,” she said warily. “Why?”

Ruby grinned. “Because it’s really cool! How’s it work? What features does it have?”

“Ruby’s… trigger-happy,” Yang explained, and Ruby saw her rolling her eyes.

_Right,_ Ruby grumbled internally. _Like you’ve got room to judge._

“She built her weapon when she was only eight, and she’s been modifying it ever since,” Yang continued, as though she hadn’t heard Ruby chastise her. Which, of course, she hadn’t. “So… she likes weapons.”

Blake raised a brow at the smaller girl. “That’s… impressive. What’s your weapon, then?”

Ruby smiled excitedly and unslung Crescent Rose from behind her. “This is Crescent Rose,” she introduced, extending the seven-foot scythe. “She’s a High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe. She has 32-round magazines and a peak firing rate of 2 .50 rounds per second.” Ruby smiled at the weapon. “Isn’t she a sweetheart?”

Yang actually had to support herself on Ruby’s shoulder she was laughing so hard. “It never gets old,” she gasped to Blake. “It’s one of the most psychotic weapons ever conceived and she calls it _sweetheart_!”

Blake seemed to be trying to contain her laughter. She was better at it than Yang.

Ruby frowned at her sister. “It’s better than being a mother hen over my own _hair_ …”

Yang rolled her eyes, still laughing. “Look, Sis, if you had hair like mine, you’d be protective too!”

Ruby shook her head and turned back to Blake. “So?” she asked. “What about your weapon? What’s its name? What’s it do?”

Blake shrugged and drew the blade from its sharpened sheath. “Its name is Gambol Shroud,” she said, holding the katana out for examination. “It’s a Variable Ballistic Chain scythe; I hook the katana onto my wrist with a Dust-weave ribbon, enhanced for durability, and then swing it around, using the integrated pistol to improve its velocity. I can use the sheath as an off-hand weapon.”

Ruby nodded absently, studying the integrated firearm in the hilt of the weapon. “.44?” she asked after a moment, considering the width of the barrel.

“.38 Blake corrected. “Sacrificed stopping power for economy and size. It needed to fit into the hilt of a katana, after all.”

Ruby nodded. “I guess if you’re using it for sudden velocity changes, .38 works almost as well.” She smiled up at Blake. “Thanks!” she said. “Weapons are kind of my thing.”

Blake shrugged, sheathing Gambol Shroud. “No problem,” she said. “I guess it only makes sense for Huntresses-in-training to bond over how we’ll kill Grimm.”

Yang snorted. “Sounds about right. Hey, it looks like people are heading inside.”

Ruby looked around. It was true; slowly but surely the students were filtering into the citadel. “Orientation?” she wondered aloud.

“Probably,” Blake said. “We wouldn’t want to miss that.”

* * *

 

“This is great!” Yang said, leaning on her arm and studying the rest of the crowd. “It’s like a massive slumber party!”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Yeah, full of people we don’t know.”

Yang flicked her in the temple with a finger. “Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. Stop being so glum! Besides, Blake’s a friend now!”

Ruby snorted. “You sure you don’t mind me getting to know her?”

At Yang’s frown, she elaborated. “You were laying the moves on her _really_ thick, Yang. I wouldn’t want to get in the way…”

Yang was immune to teasing, and just waggled her eyebrows. “I definitely don’t mind; you made a _great_ wingman—er, woman. She thought you were adorable.”

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t that almost exactly _not_ the idea behind a wing…woman?”

Yang’s grin widened. “Oh, no. If my little sister’s adorable, I, by comparison, look _smoking_!”

This time Ruby threw the pillow. “That would be because your hair’s on fire,” she told her older sister caustically.

Yang pulled the pillow off her face and grinned at someone behind Ruby. “Hey, Blake!” she said, patting the ground beside her, across from her sister. “Set up here!”

Ruby turned. Blake was standing over them, a book in her hand, a rolled sleeping bag on her back, a hint of pink dusting her cheeks, and an amused look in her eyes. “I think I’ll keep to _this_ side,” she told Yang, laying the sleeping bag out beside Ruby. “Wouldn’t want you trying anything on the first night here.”

Yang was still unaffected as ever. “I would never!” she said, laughter in her eyes despite her feigned offence. “I save all the naughty things for night two and onward.”

Blake rolled her eyes, but Ruby noticed her blush grew a shade more prominent. Yang, knowing her, probably noticed too; if Ruby looked over right now, she was sure her blonde sister would be preening visibly. “How… controlled of you,” she said, lowering herself onto the sleeping bag and placing her book beside where her head would lie.

Yang tossed her head in a passable impersonation of a snob. “Controlled?” she asked. “How dare you? I’m a _wild_ ride, baby, just wait and see!”

In response, Blake turned to Ruby. “Is there any way to get her to stop?” she asked.

Ruby giggled. “Let her have it,” she advised. “Just be glad she hasn’t brought out the puns yet.”

“Oh, you’re right, those are late,” Yang said, clapping her hand to her brow in dismay. “I’ll have to be more _pun_ ctual in the future.”

Blake stared at the blonde, open-mouthed. Ruby looked over at Yang to see her grinning proudly.

“You’ve got to be joking,” Blake said eventually. “There are actually people like you on Remnant?”

“Ha! Definitely not!” Yang raised a fist to her ample chest proudly. “I’m one-of-a-kind! I’m _Yang_ tastic!”

“Yes, Yang,” Ruby said over Blake’s horrified groan—and those of everyone for several feet around them, for that matter—as the lights went out. Ruby patted her sister on the head. “Yes you are.”


	2. Forest Shade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The factual inaccuracy that no one noticed last chapter about Ruby living in Vale proper rather than Patch has been rectified. For purposes of this fic, Patch is easily accessible from the rest of Vale, just because otherwise a few things—like Glynda being present for the fight in Chapter 1 of the show—are harder to justify otherwise.

“Rise and shine, Ruby!”

Ruby’s eyes opened and instinctively sought their mirrored pair. For a moment, their absence sparked a panic like none she could ever remember.

_Roserosewhereisrose_

And then she blinked and remembered. Rose was gone.

She swallowed and fought back tears. “Yang,” she whispered thickly, “have you got a mirror?”

Yang’s violet eyes blinked down at her in alarm. “Oh, man, Ruby, are you okay?”

“Mirror!”

Yang startled at the hoarse demand and reached into her bag, producing a handheld mirror. “Uh, here.” She handed it to her sister. “Are you all right?”

In lieu of an answer, Ruby spun the mirror and stared into it and there were those silver eyes she knew so well.

Ruby had been taught that identical twins usually had distinguishing features; though they appeared identical to the untrained eye, those who knew them could tell them apart, even if they wore the same clothes.

Ruby, however, was not an identical twin, and she and Rose shared perfectly identical physical features, barring those they had gained over their lives. Ruby’s red-tipped locks of hair, for instance, were not mirrored—Rose had never had the time to get them—and Rose had several more scars than her sister.

But their eyes were the same, and always had been. If Ruby lied to herself _just_ enough…

She ran her hand along the mirror and sighed. “I’m okay now,” she muttered, handing the mirror back to her sister. “Thanks, Yang.”

“Uh, no problem,” Yang said, blinking at her. “But… what _was_ that? Did you have a nightmare or something?”

Ruby sighed and lay back against her sleeping bag. “Sure,” she said wearily. “That’s as good an explanation as any.”

_I miss you already, Rose._

* * *

 

_Launch pads,_ Ruby thought incredulously as she surveyed the cliff’s edge. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked no one in particular. “I mean, yes, please, but you’ve got to be kidding.”

Yang looked at her sidelong. “What?” she asked cockily. “Too hot for you, little sis?”

“Are you kidding?” Ruby asked, a breathless laugh escaping her. “It’s like my birthday, only for everybody!”

“Uh,” a blond, nervous-looking young man sidled up to her shiftily. “Hi,” he muttered sheepishly. “I’m Jaune Arc.”

“Ruby Rose,” she replied with a nod and a smile in his direction. “This is my sister Yang.”

Yang gave him a grin.

“Nice to, uh, meet you,” he said, somehow looking intimidated already. “Erm… you seem to know what’s going on?”

Ruby clapped her hands together excitedly. “Oh, I hope I’m right!”

“What do you think they’re going to do?” Jaune’s voice was slightly shaky.

Ruby pointed out across the cliff. “I think they’re going to use these launch pads to throw us off the cliff,” she said happily, “and then we’ll do… something… in the forest down there. Ooh, I can’t _wait_! Crescent Rose is _great_ in the air!”

“Feel bad for anyone who doesn’t have a high-recoil setting on their firearms,” Yang interjected, coming up beside and surveying the area. “I mean, you can get the same effect with Aura bursts in a pinch, but those are _expensive_.”

Ruby nodded. “Oh, and can you _imagine_ trying to do this without a firearm of some kind?” she asked with a giggle. “I mean, it’s definitely _possible_ , but you’d need to use your melee option to deflect your velocity on the canopy and simultaneously use Aura to dampen your existing momentum. That’d take _huge_ reserves!”

Yang cocked an eyebrow at her. “Is that a challenge?” she asked slyly.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “I’d rather my sister not break her wrists trying to angle a fall on a branch with her _hands_ , even if Ember Cecilia is on them,” she replied. “Please don’t.”

“Uh,” Jaune mumbled from behind them. Ruby heard him peripherally, but he didn’t seem to be talking to them anymore. “I’ll just, uh, go over here… Oh my goodness…”

“Well, why don’t you?” Yang suggested, as if she hadn’t heard the odd boy behind them. “Crescent Rose is perfect for this! The curved blade will let you swing a little, if you angle it right, even without using Aura!”

Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and studied it, considering. “…Maybe,” she conceded. “It might be worth a try, and I don’t have that much ammo on me right now. It might be good to save it.”

“Right!” Yang said, after the barest pause. “Totally! It’ll let you save a few rounds of the, what, twenty 32-round magazines you carry on you at all times? Which isn’t much at all! That’s only 600 shots!”

Ruby nodded decisively. “Right,” she said. “That settles it. Never waste ammo, Yang,” she advised wisely, turning toward the launch plates and walking back from the cliff towards them. “You never know when you might need it.”

There was a pause, and Ruby was about to turn back to see if her sister was okay before Yang sighed heavily and came to a halt on a plate beside hers. Ruby heard her mumble something that sounded like, “And they say _I’m_ crazy,” but didn’t question it. Yang was weird sometimes.

“I wonder if they’re going to assign us to teams for this,” Ruby mused aloud. “Or maybe this has something to do with the team assignments?”

“An excellent, and topical, question, Miss Rose,” said a familiar voice behind her.

She turned and grinned. “Headmaster Ozpin,” she greeted, “Professor Goodwitch.” Then she smiled sheepishly. “Uh, and it’s Ruby, please. Rose is… someone else.”

Ozpin smiled. “Very well, then, Miss Ruby. Now,” he projected his voice to the gaggle of Beacon admits at large. “If each of you could stand on one of the pads, one student to each pad, please?”

The students shuffled into position.

“For years, each of you has trained to become warriors,” Ozpin said, addressing the group, “and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest.” He nodded to Professor Goodwitch.

“I’m sure many of you have been hearing rumors about team assignments. Allow us to lay those rumors to rest. Each of you will be assigned a team today.”

Ruby was unsurprised. Everything Huntsmen did was in teams. It only made sense to set _something_ of the sort up immediately.

“This team will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon,” Ozpin continued.

Now Ruby grimaced. _That seems… rushed._

“So it is in your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you can work well,” Ozpin advised. “That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.”

Ruby stared at him, open-mouthed. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked blankly—and, thankfully, quietly enough that Professor Goodwitch only sent her a small glare.

“After you’ve partnered up,” Ozpin carried on, ignoring her completely, “make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way.”

_Grimm,_ Ruby mentally noted. _There’s going to be Grimm. At least that’s familiar._

“Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path,” Ozpin instructed flatly, “or you _will_ die.”

_Definitely Grimm._

“You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene,” Ozpin continued, as though he hadn’t just told a group of seventeen-year-olds that they might be minutes away from death. Which, of course, he hadn’t—Ruby was fifteen. “You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?”

Ruby raised a hand. Down the line, so did Jaune. “Yeah, um, sir?” the boy began.

“Good!” Ozpin said, his eyes twinkling with the slightest hint of amusement. “Now, take your positions.”

Ruby nodded, lowered her hand, and took a stance—her knees bent, her feet pointed at a 60-degree angle, one hand already reaching for the sheathed Crescent Rose.

She’d wanted to ask how the partnerships would be paired into traditional four-man teams, but she expected it would become clear in time.

“Uh, sir?” Jaune continued, clearly either determined or suicidal. “I’ve got, um, a question.”

Ruby tuned him out, opting instead to close her eyes and feel the wind on her face. _A westward wind,_ she decided, opening her eyes again as the first trainee, far to her left, was launched. _I’ll have to angle slightly eastward if I want to stay with the group, given how light I am. On the other hand, if I stay to the outskirts, I might be able to find a good partner without being spotted…_

Then she looked over as Blake was launched. She followed the dark-haired girl with her slowly widening eyes. “Right,” she said. “Force. Momentum.” She turned to Yang. “Windspeed isn’t going to be a big deal, is it?” she asked conversationally.

Yang shrugged. “It’s two-dimensional, without the wind,” she said, as another initiate was launched. “Three with it. Should still be a factor.”

Ruby frowned. “Wait, but won’t we…?”

“Sorry, Sis,” Yang interrupted with a wink as she slipped on a pair of sunglasses. “Gotta go!”

And she was gone.

Ruby tensed, and as she heard the creak of the spring, she leapt with it. Her feet left the ground, and in a blink she was flying.

Out came Crescent Rose, slicing through the air like an arrow. She whirled it about herself, trying to use the air about her as a sort of rotating cushion in lieu of bullets. It wasn’t especially effective, but she wasn’t expecting it to be. That was what her Semblance and the canopy were for.

Speaking of the canopy, it was getting very close very quickly. She angled Crescent Rose _just so_ , and it caught along a branch, swinging her upward in a gut-pulling arc, leaving a deep gash in the wood.

She was still falling, however, just slightly slower. She let herself drop a few feet more, until she was just moments from hitting the earth, and activated her Semblance.

In a flash of whirling rose petals, she was higher up and falling slower. She brought Crescent Rose up in a great swing and dug a deep trough in the earth below her to dampen her momentum before arcing again, this time sinking the scythe into the earth before her as her feet met the ground.

She came down kneeling on one knee, her right hand gripping the haft of her weapon while the left landed beside her to steady her. She took a moment like that to survey her surroundings before rising and yanking Crescent Rose out of the ground.

She sighed. “Good landing,” she told her weapon. “Now comes the hard part. Yang?” The call was halfhearted—Ruby seriously doubted Yang would be anywhere near her by now. Her sister tended to go for very long landings, extending her fall a great distance. If she’d thought about Ruby wanting her as a partner, Yang might have held back, but… it just wasn’t a stressful situation for the blonde. Ruby knew that.

Yang could get along with everyone, and though she knew Ruby was less social, it didn’t always register. Ruby doubted she’d thought to look after her sister. Or she might just want Ruby to grow out of her “shell.”

Ruby sighed and began to move, quickly but quietly, through the forest. As she went, she tried to turn her thoughts to more positive matters. After all, if there _were_ Grimm in these woods, attracting them was a Grade-A Bad Idea.

The trouble was, there was little in her life right now to be happy about. She was in Beacon Academy, sure, but it was impossible to separate that fact in her mind from what she had sacrificed for the opportunity.

There was a growl behind her and Ruby cursed her luck. _I shouldn’t have been thinking about Rose! Not here!_

She whirled, Crescent Rose at the ready, and slashed through the Beowolf unfortunate enough to be first. There were two more behind it.

Now she smiled slightly with a snort. “Three Beowolves? Where’s the rest of you?”

Then five Ursai followed them warily out of the trees, and Ruby’s smile widened. “That,” she said, “is more like it. This is for my sister, you soulless freaks.”

She spun, Crescent Rose whirling into the Beowolf on the left. It leapt back out of the way, and the blade passed through the air it had vacated and then into the chest of its slower compatriot.

Ruby pulled it through the rest of its arc, leaving a massive gash in the already-dissolving Beowolf. She rotated the haft of Crescent Rose in her hand with a flick of her wrist so that the blade was pointing straight up, before firing a round into one of the Ursai.

She let the recoil push her backward into a tree, lading with one foot on the ground and one on the bark. She used the shock of the impact to swing Crescent Rose upward until it sank into the tree behind her like a hook.

Then she leapt upward, pulling on the haft of her scythe as she went so that it rotated in the tree like a lever until it eventually cut its way out of the gash she had dug just as her feet touched the branch she was landing on.

She continued to raise Crescent Rose along its arc, firing once as an Ursa was unfortunate enough to be into her sightline, before leaping off of the tree, spinning laterally with her scythe in her hand so that it became a crimson corkscrew, obliterating two of the remaining Ursai and the last Beowolf in one strike.

She landed, turned, and sank her blade into the last Ursa’s masked skull as it charged her. After a moment, when it began to dissolve, she withdrew the weapon and retracted it into its folded storage form.

Her smile faded slightly. “That was fun, she allowed herself, before turning, and meeting her partner.

The girl was about her height, and a long ponytail, off-center and to her right streamed a pure white down her back. A scar was etched into her face, just below her left eye, marring otherwise flawless pale skin. A white battle-dress, only peripherally similar to Ruby’s own, clothed her, with a red lining visible at the collar and a light lace hem at the bottom, webbed to look like snowflakes.

All of this Ruby noticed only peripherally. The girl’s eyes caught her attention and held them. They were exactly the pale blue color of a glacier, with all the symbolic connotations. They looked cold, unyielding, and somehow old.

Ruby smiled. “So you’re my partner?” she asked.

The girl frowned slightly, then nodded. “I suppose so,” she allowed. “You seem able to handle yourself.”

Ruby wished suddenly that Grimm didn’t dissolve so that she could survey the corpses of her victims. She settled for wryly saying, “Gee, thanks for the glowing endorsement.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “It was only six Grimm,” she said flatly. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. “It was eight,” she corrected. “I should know, I killed them. Look, can we not argue ten seconds into meeting each other?” She held out her hand with a renewed smile. “I’m Ruby Rose,” she said. “Please call me Ruby—Rose is someone else. What’s your name?”

The girl seemed surprised that she had to ask, but she shook Ruby’s hand anyway. “Weiss Schnee,” she said flatly.

Ruby nodded, smile never faltering. She knew the Schnee name, of course—everyone and their grandmother did—but here Weiss was just another Huntress-in-training, and if she wanted to be treated otherwise she would have to earn it.

Besides, Rose had mentioned Weiss Schnee once or twice. “Smarter than most people three times her age,” Ruby’s sister had said, “but she hates her job. She’d never admit it, but I can tell.”

Weiss had been unhappy at the head of the Schnee dynasty on Rose’s Remnant. Ruby decided not to treat her as if she was there.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, unable to fully hide her mirth at Weiss’ shock at her limited reaction. “Let’s go; we can get to know each other while we walk.”

Weiss sniffed, then nodded. “Agreed.”

They began to walk at a leisurely pace—not quite slow, but well below a jog. “So,” Ruby said, “Why did you want to become a Huntress, Weiss?”

Weiss shrugged noncommittally. “To do justice to the Schnee name, I suppose.”

Ruby cocked a brow at her. “I won’t ask,” she promised. Weiss glared at her and she held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry!” she said. “If you want to elaborate I’ll listen, but you looked like you didn’t!”

Weiss sighed and looked away. “What about you?” she asked instead of answering.

Ruby smiled and shrugged, her hands falling back to her sides. “A few reasons,” she said. “I mean, a big part of it is that it’s fun, right?”

Weiss turned her head to watch her closely. “You… enjoy cutting monsters up into tiny little pieces?” she asked warily.

Ruby sighed. “I enjoy combat,” she clarified. “I think most of us do, even if we don’t like to admit it. I enjoy the thrill, the challenge, and the tactical sense it involves. The Grimm are the only targets that I don’t have to hold back against that actually fight back, unless I want to spend a lot of Lien on some Atlesian military tech.”

Weiss frowned thoughtfully. “I suppose there is a certain… excitement, to the whole affair,” she admitted.

Ruby grinned at her. “Stop making it sound so bad, Weiss!” she chided playfully. “You’re in the only profession in the world where wanting to fight is an unqualified positive!”

Weiss smiled slightly. “I suppose so. You said there were other reasons, though?”

Ruby’s face fell slightly. “Well,” she hedged, then sighed. “I’ve lost people to the Grimm,” she said honestly—her mother, for instance. “And someone… very important to me has lost a lot more. I want to, I don’t know, find closure on what she went through. For both of us.”

Weiss watched her, something like sympathy in her eyes. She seemed unaccustomed to it. “Did she…?” she asked hesitantly.

Ruby shook her head with a sad smile. “She’s not dead, no.” _Not yet._ “Just… her life is hard, and it’s their fault. So I want to try to make it right, the only way I can.”

“That’s…” Weis seemed to struggle for a moment. “…Noble of you. I suppose.”

Ruby shrugged halfheartedly. “Not really,” she said honestly. “A ‘noble’ Huntress would be doing this for the sake of all the people of Remnant, fighting for the cause of our species’ survival and growth.” She chuckled wryly. “I’m just fighting to take as many of the soulless scum down as I can.”

Weiss nodded with a light chuckle. “I suppose I can understand that,” she agreed.

Ruby looked over at her. “So where did you learn to fight?” she asked, changing the subject. “I studied at Signal Academy, and was admitted here early.”

Weiss looked over at her, intrigued. “I thought you looked young,” she said. “How old are you?”

Ruby blushed slightly. “You should never ask a lady her age,” she said coyly, swaying on her hips and looking up at Weiss with affected shyness. The white-haired girl spluttered, flushing slightly.

“I—I didn’t mean—” she stuttered.

Ruby interrupted her with a laugh. “I’m kidding,” she said, nudging Weiss’ shoulder gently with a hand. “I’m fifteen. I’m told I act older than most my age. To be honest,” she lowered her voice clandestinely, “I think the rest of them are being _immature_ , but what do I know?”

Weiss huffed a slight giggle. “I would certainly never have guessed that you were fifteen,” she admitted.

Ruby smiled slightly. “Then I won’t hold back our team,” she said, by way of an answer. Then she turned about, surveying the area. “We don’t really know where this ruin is,” she said. “I can get up into the canopy to scout?”

Weiss nodded. “That might be a good idea. Don’t fall,” she added, seemingly as an afterthought.

Ruby chuckled. “Aww, you care!” without waiting for a reply, she made a Semblance-assisted leap upward onto a low hanging bough and began to shimmy carefully up the trunk, catching herself on one branch at a time.

She emerged from the leaves a few moments later. Holding tightly to the higher branches, she craned her neck, trying to get a view of the whole forest.

_There._ A large clearing, with some sort of structure just barely visible over the treetops.

Ruby let go, and used another Semblance blink to get to the ground without falling conventionally.

“I told you not to fall,” Weiss said, amused.

Ruby grinned at her. “It’s that way,” she said, pointing in the direction she’s seen the place. “North-Northwest. About a mile more.” She turned to Weiss. “You should set the pace,” she said. “I don’t care how fast we get there, and my Semblance basically makes me move fast, so I should definitely not be blazing the trail.”

Weiss nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I’d rather get there sooner than later, I think. Let’s pick up the pace.”

They did. They traveled now at a light jog—not a difficult pace to keep, but also fast enough to cover a mile in ten or so minutes.

“So,” Ruby continued their conversation as they moved. “You grew up in Atlas, I guess?”

Weiss nodded. “And you? Vale?”

Ruby nodded with a chuckle. “Born and raised,” she said proudly. “I grew up on Patch with my sister, Yang.”

Wais looked over at her, curiously. “You have a sister?” she asked. “Younger or older?”

Ruby smiled happily. “Older,” she said. “Two years older—she’s starting Beacon with us.” She snorted. “Just look for the girl who’s on fire. It’s probably her, unless someone’s very unlucky.”

Weiss frowned at her. “On… fire?”

Ruby snorted. “It’s her semblance.  She basically goes berserk. The fire’s… probably a side effect.”

“I see,” Weiss seemed somewhat put off by the idea of a girl in her class being prone to combustion. Ruby understood.

“What about you?” Ruby asked curiously. “Any siblings?”

“An older sister,” Weiss said, a smile crossing her face. “Her name is Winter. She’s a Special Operative in Atlas’ military.”

Ruby blinked. “A commando?”

Weiss giggled. “She doesn’t like the term,” she said. “If you ever meet her, it’s ‘operative.’”

“But she’s a commando,” Ruby said, reading Weiss’ unspoken meaning.

“She is,” Weiss agreed. “Although sometimes I think that involves being a Huntress more than anything else.”

Ruby shrugged. “We’re not at war with anyone else right now,” she said. “Who else would she fight besides the Grimm?”

Weiss grimaced. “The White Fang,” she grumbled, “and other such groups. But I suppose that’s the Schnee talking. Most people would likely say the Grimm are the greater threat.”

Ruby shrugged sympathetically. “If the White Fang drives humanity extinct, it’ll be by accident,” she said. “The Grimm, not so much. But, on the other hand, the Grimm have always been there, and probably always will be. And, in fairness, it’s not _my_ company the Fang keeps messing with.”

Weiss sighed. “It’s not mine, either,” she allowed. “It’s my father’s.” She grimaced, then. “I’d… rather not talk about this, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Of course,” Ruby said, casting about for a change of subject. “Apart from being a commando, what’s Winter like?”

Weiss smiled. “She’s…magnificent,” she said softly. “Beautiful, skilled, intelligent, and caring, but also stern. She’s always composed, even when things go wrong… it’s always comforting, when she’s around, because you know no matter what goes wrong, she’ll know what to do.”

Ruby smiled slightly. “Yang tries to be like that, sometimes,” she allowed. “I don’t think she realizes that winging it just works better for her.”

Weiss giggled. “I don’t think Winter has ever ‘winged’ anything in her life,” she said.

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Ruby agreed. “She sounds like an amazing sister… almost like a mother.”

Weiss’ face fell slightly. Ruby understood, and gave her an out.

“My mother died when I was young,” she said. “Yang tried to step up, but she’s still more a big sister. Dad’s great, but… I dunno. I’m happy with my family how it is, I guess.”

“So am I,” Weiss said at length, taking the escape Ruby had presented at face value. “Winter is… very important to me.”

Ruby nodded. “I can understand that.”

Then the forest opened before them, and the structure Ruby had seen came into view. It was a circle of stones surrounding what looked like the remains of a floor. Several small plinths formed a ring around the inside of the circle.

All of this was secondary, In Ruby’s mind, to who she saw already in the circle. “Yang!” she exclaimed, waving. “Hi!”

Yang turned from her partner and grinned at her. “Hey, Ruby. You found a partner, then?”

Ruby nodded and waved at Yang’s partner. “Hi, Blake!”

Blake smiled at her. “Ruby. Glad you could make it.”

Ruby beamed at her and then turned to Weiss. “Weiss,” she said, “this is my sister, Yang Xiao Long, and her partner, Blake Belladonna. Blake, Yang, this is my partner, Weiss Schnee. Say hi, everybody!”

Weiss nodded to them. “Hello,” she said, calmly.

Yang blinked at her. “Wait, Schnee?” she asked blankly. “As in…?”

“As in the Schnee Dust Company,” Blake said, and the smile had fallen from her face. “I thought I recognized you.”

Weiss’ chin rose haughtily. “Yes,” she said. “Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC, at your service.”

Ruby stepped between them. “All right, calm down,” she said. “Weiss is here as a Huntress, _not_ as the daughter of a businessman. Let’s try and treat her that way, okay?”

Yang grinned. “Of course,” she said. “I wouldn’t know how to treat a princess anyway.”

Weiss grimaced and Ruby gave her sister a look. “Yang,” she said firmly. “I’m going to be rooming with Weiss for four years. Can you not?”

Yang did have the decency to look chagrined. “Uh, sure. Sorry, Weiss.”

“It’s quite all right,” Weiss said stoically, seeming to shake herself back into alertness. “I merely…”

There was a crash as something knocked down a tree on the edge of the glade. Ruby whirled, and drew Crescent Rose when she saw the Ursa. She was about to charge when the Grimm seemed to explode from behind before keeling over and allowing its jockey to tumble to the ground.

“Aww,” said the girl sadly. “It’s broken…”

She nudged it with her foot and shuddered slightly as her partner emerged from behind her. “Ewww,” she said.

“Nora,” said the young man, panting slightly. “Please… never do that again?”

The girl, Nora, was orange-haired and wore a pink and white battledress. Her partner was a black-haired young man in an intricate green top and white pants, with a pink highlight in his hair that looked somehow crystalline.

Nora was already studying one of the plinths, and Ruby took the opportunity to observe the… _relics_ … resting on them. They were chess pieces, in gold and black. Yang was holding a golden knight, and Nora was studying a rook of the same color.

“Oooh,” Nora said as she examined it, before taking it quickly and doing some sort of dance with it. “I’m queen of the castle, I’m queen of the castle,” she sang—quite well, actually.

“Nora!” her partner called, exasperated.

Noraa froze, looked slightly embarrassed, and saluted with a giggle. “Coming, Ren!” and she was gone again.

“Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?” Blake asked blankly.

Yang shook her head. “I…”

“Was she faster than _me_?” Ruby interjected quickly.

Yang blinked. “I…”

There was another crash as a young blond man crashed into a tree.

“Did that guy just fall from the sky?” Blake asked.

Yang shook her head wordlessly as several trees fell on the edge of the clearing and a girl emerged, chased by…

“Deathstalker!” Ruby shouted, Crescent Rose already unfolding. “Ready up, everyone!”

Everyone moved. Weiss drew her rapier and spun its cartridge—Ruby suddenly wanted to hit herself for not asking the girl about her weapon. Yang activated Ember Cecilia. Blake drew Gambol Shroud and took a battle stance with its sheath in her left hand.

“Did that girl just get chased here by a Deathstalker?” Blake asked sardonically.

“Yes, Blake,” Ruby said. “Yes, she did.”

_Deathstalkers are armored,_ she thought, mind working frantically. _Crescent Rose won’t penetrate unless I put a lot of momentum into it. Even then, there are probably better alternatives._

“Ruby,” Yang ordered, “get that girl out with your Semblance. I’ll keep it off of you.”

Ruby nodded and was gone. In a blink she was running from the Grimm beside the girl.

“Hold on!” she shouted to her.

The girl blinked at her before closing her arms around her. For two paces they ran awkwardly like that as Ruby focused her Aura, and then in a flash they were back among the group, falling over on top of each other.

There was a bang as Yang blocked a single strike from the beast before fleeing back to them. “Right,” she gasped. “That’s gonna be the only blocking I do for a while. Aura’s in the yellow.”

Ruby nodded. “Anybody have a way to disable that thing?” she asked.

Weiss’ eyes widened. “I might,” she said. “Can you draw a shot from its stinger?”

“No point,” Blake countered. “These,” she gestured to the chess pieces, “are the relics. Everyone grab one and let’s just run.”

Ruby nodded and took a golden knight. “Hurry,” she said. Turning to the tree the blond boy had fallen into, she saw that he had climbed down and made his way over to them. “You her partner?” she asked, gesturing to the girl she’d pulled from the Deathstalker, who was now taking a golden rook

“Yeah,” he said, watching the approaching Grimm nervously. “It’s getting close…”

“Yes,” Ruby agreed, turning to Weiss. “Yes, it is. Everyone, run!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, expect updates in bursts. I think one more chapter is likely this time around, since I want to get this next fight written, but it’s hard to tell.
> 
> Quick note about the fight scenes. The little one about halfway through the chapter is a good indicator of how I usually write them. It’s how I write my Naruto fights, too, since I don’t buy the whole DBZ-standing there throwing nukes at each other-thing the anime has going now. If it doesn’t feel like RWBY, I’d like to know so I can modify it before the big fights start happening later on.

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by Split Second. Which is about ponies. This, however, is not about ponies, and really isn't that much like Split Second anyway.
> 
> This story has themes! It's about the effect of relationships and connections, isolated from any ancillary benefits they provide like connections, aid, et cetera; and about the effect of war on the psyche. I don't know if I can pull that off, but given that Sturgeon's Law is a thing I figure it can't hurt to try.
> 
> Uh, don't expect quick updates. Really, don't. You will be disappointed. If that bothers you, get out while you still can. I'm almost 150k words into my main project right now, so it's going to be taking priority, except that I basically just write what I feel like writing when I feel like writing it. But I always post in 5k-word chunks at minimum, so that pattern can take a while to churn out a chapter.
> 
> Comments and those ingenious Kudos things you people are appreciated, but are neither expected nor demanded. I'm basically writing this so I have something to read, because there ain't enough RWBY fanfiction out there.


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